Car-cleaning apparatus



Sept. 7, 192.6. 1,599,194

W. S. WILLIAMS CAR CIJEANI NG APPARATUS Filed Deg. 11, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Air: neg.

Sept. '7, 1926.

W. S. WILLIAMS CAR CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Dc.

11, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 9 I" 9 9 l s M m L H w a w 7 Sept. 7 1926.

OAR CLEANING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet s Fil ed Dec. 11,- 1924 w QR Patented Sept. 7, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE! WALTER sco'r'r wI LrAMs, OF WATERLOO, town.

CAR-CLEANING APPARATUS. v

Application filed December .11, 1924. Serial No. 755,343.

elements for rinsing also, with reciprocating rubbing means for scrubbing said. walls yieldingly in order to satisfactorily clean depressed parts of the .vehicle.

This object I have accomplished by the means which. are hereinafter described and I claimed, and: which are illustrated in the ac companying drawings, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit. of the invention:

.= Insaid drawings: Fig. 1 is a topplan of a pair. of like but respectively. reversed devices, of my inven- .,tion placed .in operative relation to opposite side walls of a railway coach, parts. of one of the devices being shown in horizontal sec- ..tio-n. Fig. 2 is an enlarged. end elevation of said coach and pair of cleaning devices, one

section. section of one of the removable brushes and its inclosedliquid delivery device, Fig. 4:

is a side elevation of a part of said coachand of one of said devices, parts of the latter being longitudinally sectioned or broken awa The numeral 39 denotes a railway pas .senger car mounted for transportation upon the usual railed trackway 38. The numeral .36 denotes pairs of short like rails mounted on cross-ties 37 v on opposite sides ofthe .trackway 38 at a right angle thereto. The numeral 1 denotes a truck platform mounted on; flanged wheels 2 to be. moved along the .trackway' 36-37 to and fro-m a side wall of said'coach 39, and having brakerheads 3v to engage one pairof its wheels 2,, the brakeheads being operativelyconnected to and operated to lock said wheelsin a given po- .sitionby a hand-lever 4: having-the usual springo tr lled detent 5. re1.ea.sab1y.enga ing. sockets in. arack-sec-tor. 6.. fixed.on the truck, Mounted. upon the truck .is a. prime- 7 ...motcr..-which. may be .an electric-motor 7. or

of ;.a ny other kind, and which, drives a .short shaft; 8 terminating in a terminal pinion- 9 meshed with a relatively large gear-wheel 1O whi h has-on one: face-a. crankmin piota11y carrying one end of a pitmanv 11, the gear 10 beingfixed on a projecting end of a rotatable shaft10 mounted on a standard 10, and which does not. project. from -the gear toward" the coach,,-the pitman havingits other end pivotally; connected. with a pin .12

fixed on the. outer. wall. of. a ,iimmedcarrier 15 and said pin.12 projectsthrough an.elongated slot or slideway .14 in a casting fixed to the outer rimmed casing 13whichis fixed on the truck to open toward the coach 39. The nner carrler 15 also. opens toward, said coach. A number ofshort; coiled springs 15 aremounted upon theinner Wall of the carrier 15, and a hollow. box, or liquid container 171s mounted upon the free ends of .saidsprings 16 soasto ,be yieldable to and from the side wall of the coach. The opposite ends of the containerv orrubbing device 17 may be beveled at 17" for apurpose to be described.

Br ishes 19 are removably mountedupon the forward outerwall of the device 17. to

:project towardthe coach and also upon the beveled ends of the device to ride easily. o er fobstructions or projections on the coach; of the latterbeing shown in verticalmedial Fig 3 is a detail vertical medial- Referring to saidFig. 4, the numeral 26 denotes a flexible hose member whichis in communication with the device-17 by way of an aperture in its Wall, thehose being carried thence through a horizontally elongated opening 25inthe inner carrier 15 and along the rear thereof to and throughone side rim. of the fixed casing 13 to'com-municate with a pipe 28 leadingto a main hose29 and bracketed on the truck at 3 1. The said communication is controlled by a shutoifcock or valve-chamber at. 27..

.prvalve-chamber 31 independently. of the othet shut-elf. cock 27. The. roseehead. tube is mounted in ring clamps 32 upon-tl1e=casving 13., I I

w The. numeral 24 denotes a numbenof. eoncave alltkfrlfitlOll. rollers-mounted along the upper and lower parts of the; fixed casing13,

Land the rec ntocating;inn r a r e h s convex strips fixed along its upper and lower rims to fit the concave rollers, whereby displacement of the casing 18 is pre vented while it is riding thereover and therebetween.

Referring now to said Fig. 3, the forward wall of the brush-carrying device may have a number ofsmall apertures within which are fixed conical liquid delivery devices 20 which have tubular terminals 21 which penetrate in each case a hollow provided centrally in a socket member 23 of thebrush 19. The conduit part 23 has exterior threads or a thread which removably meshes with an interior thread in the conduit part 22 fixed on the forward outer wall 18 of the device 17. By this means water under pressure in the container device 17 is delivered into the brushes to wet their fibers and also against the coach wall in part to soften adherent dry or hardened grime or dirt.

The rose-head 33 may be used to deliver water under pressure infinely divided steams or ets downwardly upon the brushes l9 and upon the outer wall of the coach 39, in cooperation simultaneously with the delivery of water under pressure into and through the brushes 19 from the delivery devices 2021, or they may be used independently of each other according to the need. v For instance, the rose-head may be employed initially alone to wet and soften adherent grime on the coach before the rubbing brushes 19 are set in reciprocation by the mechanism described. In either single or combined use, the rose-head will deliver a spray of water upon the outer wall of the coach at both of its ends which project beyond the rubbing device, whereby when the coach is slowly moved lengthwise of the washing apparatus the one end part of the rose-head initially wets and softens grime upon the coach, whilethe other end of the rose-head rinses the coach wall as the latter is uncovered progressively because of its movement ahead. The rose-head may be independently turned on to spray the coach wall after rubbing by the brushes 19, in order to rinse said wall, as the truck may be shifted slightly away from the coach to take the brushes 1.9 out of contact with the wall. i

The coaches may be thus quickly cleaned at terminal stations, or at other places where a short stop is made, and where my cleaning apparatus is installed, and the operation is facilitated and hastened by the employment of apa'ir of apparatus, on opposite sides of the coach, as illustrated.

It will be noted that the brushes 19 should be of a suitable length for needed flexibility, so thatwhenin engagement with the wall of the coach 3 9 they will yieldably rub with some force thereover while recip rocating, and the freely swinging springs 16 will then press the brush tips into crevices or depressed places such as those presented by window panes between sashes and j ambs, and the springs can yield to permit the brushes to pass over projections, the beveled end parts 17 of the rubbing device facilitating this. The resilient mounting of the rubber reciprocating device thus practically simulates the effective scrubbing action of a hand brush over an extensive surface at the same time, whereby the cleaning is perfected in a minimum time, and the brushes are not permanently bent over or injuriously changed in shape.

,Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination, a reciprocably mounted body adapted to be positioned adjacent to a vehicle, a multiplicity of springs fixed at one end upon and distributed over a face of said body, and a brush-carrying body connected to the other ends of saidsprings to yield freely under lateral and inward stress. 7

2. In combination, a truck adapted to be positioned adjacent a vehicle, a rimmed carrier mountedfor reciprocation upon said truck, a body having a front v face and mounted to yield under lateral and inward pressure upon said carrier, and a plurality of brush units removably distributed over said front face projecting in the direction of the vehicle.

3. In combination, a truck, a rimmed casing thereon opening toward a vehicle, a carrier body reciprocably positioned within said rimmed casing, springs numerously'distributed over and connected to said carrier body to yield under lateral and inward stress, and a brush-carrying element supported upon said springs.

' 1. In combination, a supporting device adapted to be shifted relatively to an ad jacent vehicle, a hollow device mounted upon said supporting device and in communication with a supply of fluid under pressure, mechanism reciprocably mounted on said supporting device connected to and adapted to reciprocate said reciprocable device substantially parallel to the adjacent part of the vehicle, said reciprocable device having its wall opposite said vehicle numerously apertured, swabs mounted over said aper tures, and tubular delivery devices traversing said apertures to deliver fluid' under pressure into and throughsaid swabs.

5. In combination, a movablesupport, a carrier mounted reciprocably upon said support, a hollow container in communication with a supply of fluid under pressure and supported yieldingly upon said; carrier, said container having numerous apertures in one wall, terminally diminished delivery devices mounted in said apertures, and brushes mounted on said delivery devices and container whereby the fluid is carried through the brushes under pressure.

6. An apparatus of the character described, comprising in combination, a truck, a rimmed carrier reciprocably mounted thereon, a hollow device supported within and upon said rimmed carrier and having a multiplicity of apertures directed toward a vehicle, said device being in communication with a supply of fluid under pressure, a brush mounted removably over each aperture of said device to receive fluid therefrom, and a prime motor mounted upon said truck and operatively connected to said rimmed carrier to reciprocate it parallel with the vehicle.

7 An apparatus of the character described, comprising in combination, a truck mounted to be moved toward and from a vehicle, a rimmed casing fixed on said truck, a rimmed carrier mounted within said casing to reciprocate alongsidethe vehicle, the

carrier wall next said vehicle having a medial plane face between end faces inclined away from the vehicle and a multiplicity of brushes mounted upon all said faces to project toward the vehicle.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WALTER SCOTT WILLIAMS. 

